1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to an in-vehicle target detecting device that is mounted in a vehicle and detects a target present near the vehicle.
2. Related Art
In related art, as an in-vehicle target detecting device that detects a target present near a vehicle, a sensor (such as a millimeter-wave sensor) that uses radio waves (millimeter waves) to detect the target, and an image sensor that uses an image captured by a camera to detect the target are known. The millimeter-wave sensor has a higher detection accuracy of the distance to the target and relative velocity, compared to the image sensor. The image sensor has a higher detection accuracy of the shape of the target (width and size) and the azimuth angle to the target, compared to the millimeter wave sensor.
Therefore, a device is considered in which both the millimeter-wave sensor and the image sensor are mounted in a vehicle (for example, refer to JP-A-2001-99930). In the device, output from either sensor that more accurately detects a detection item (distance, azimuth angle, and the like) is used as the detection result of the detection item. The device then detects the target based on the detection results.
However, in image recognition by the image sensor, in general, a plurality of secondary images are generated. The generated secondary images are composed of a captured image that is reduced in stages at a predetermined scale factor. Pattern matching for the target is then repeatedly performed on the overall image plane of each secondary image. A template that is prepared in advance is used for pattern matching. In this method of repeatedly performing pattern matching, a problem occurs in that processing volume during image processing is immense.